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Last year was a year to remember. It was punctuated by two strong cross-currents: frantic activity and optimism in the first half of the year, then a loss of confidence, caution and a lot more frantic activity of the negative sort in the second half.

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Peter HarrisIn this issue we put the spotlight on disastrous and political risks in what is largely considered to be one of the safest countries in the world. We also take a look at the Japanese healthcare system and how it may be failing resident foreigners. On the other hand, in a market considered to be a tough place for females, our cover story, the article on ‘Perfect Crime’ and our piece on e-trading housewives emphasize the potential for women to prosper and be successful in Japan.

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Your recent article about the introduction of J-SOX was very interesting and informative. With J-SOX being a regulation, as opposed to a familiar market trend, this phase of change is definitely intriguing.

As you stated in your piece, Japan has just over 5% of the number of certified public accountants than the US. By implementing a risk-based top-down approach the strain on SOX-fluent resources should be minimalized, however, this theory relies heavily on the effective introduction of compliance focused software and database management systems.

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By David Hodgson -- Japan’s Expanding Market for Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare -- People of 75 years or older consume 28% of drugs in Japan. So, demographic trends are likely to drive growth in consumption of pharmaceuticals. The Japanese drugs market is ¥6 trillion, growing by ¥500 billion each year. The current ¥33 trillion total medical market in Japan is set to increase to ¥69 trillion by 2025 without cost reduction measures.

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By Anna Kitanaka -- Problems with Japan's healthcare system -- Edlyn Niimi, a US citizen who moved to Japan in February last year, told us of an emergency encounter she had with the healthcare system in Japan. She was in need of emergency care after an infection turned septic following complications from surgery. After arriving at a Tokyo hospital, she was immediately denied assistance...

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NostradamusBy Greg Lane -- Predicting the future is not really about looking forward. Without a crystal ball, the best we can do is study what has passed and use that knowledge and experience to anticipate what might happen in the future. While a neatly linear chart of sales can be estimated with the use of a ruler and a dotted line, predicting future events and trends is akin to attempting to predict the final destination of a speeding car by staring intently out the rear window. Adding to the difficulty of making any predictions about the year ahead is the truly unpredictable—the threat of earthquake, tsunami, volcanic eruption and typhoons to which Japan is eternally prone.

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Romano MazzuccoBy Peter Harris -- J@pan Inc talks to the President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Japan. -- The Italian chamber has roughly 170 members. Italian companies working in Japan come from a wide variety of industries. Our members come from some of the largest name Italian companies, Gucci, Armani, Lamborghini, Fiat and so on. We also have some hitech companies, legal services and many other kinds of smaller enterprises are represented.

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By Hugh Ashton -- Say the words ‘disaster’ and ‘Tokyo,’ and the vast majority of us immediately think of earthquakes. But for one man, in charge of business continuity planning for the Tokyo branch of a leading European financial institution, disasters come in many shapes and sizes. All result in the inability to continue business as normal, and in Japan, more than anywhere else in the world, planning for disaster recovery and business continuity are necessities.